If you wondering how to keep that lean body and muscles in tact when you hit the latter years of your life, this information could help you along.
According to new study done in Denmark, at the University of Copenhagen, researchers have discovered that there is a link between your early adulthood and physical activities.
Suggesting that the higher your intelligence level is during the early stages of adulthood the better you will fare when it comes to physical fitness later on in life
Men who had higher intelligence scores in their younger years were found to have stronger backs, arms and hands as well as good balance in their latter years. This study was conducted at the Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen and published in the Journal of Ageing & Health.
For this study a large number of participants were looked at, as many as 2, 848 Danish men between the ages of 48-56, having been born in 1953, 1959 to 61; in order for researchers to examine the defining factor between ‘male intelligence in early adulthood and their subsequent physical performance.’
We all want to be healthy and fit as we age, but that will take some work as you do need to be in good physical shape. Although studies done on this topic before have found that health status, exercise and even socioeconomic background could have impact on your physical performance; along with childhood factors that may influence physical performance as well.
How exactly did they attribute intelligence to the ability to get physical? “With each 10-point increase in intelligence score, the results revealed a 1.1 lb increase in lower back force, one cm increase in jumping height — an expression of leg muscle power — 1.5 lb increase in hand-grip strength, 3.7 percent improved balance, and 1.1 more chair-rises in 30 seconds.”
Ph.D. student Rikke Hodal Meincke, from the universities research center says that a simple explanation of the results is that the more intelligent you are, the better you interpret and understand health information and end up exercising more often.
“Exercise can thus be viewed as a mechanism that explains the connection between intelligence and physical performance,” said Meincke.
Sources: University of Copenhagen, Journal of Ageing &Health, PsychCentral
Alice Paulse
